OV9

I hope they are issuing medals for the drone operators too - some of the footage (luge, downhill skiing etc) is just superb

(I think they are fpv human operated rather than automated)

Agreed - the drone footage for the Downhill’s was cool as fvck.

Really didn’t need the coverage WITH audio after Vonn’s crash. That was horrible to hear

According to someone knowledgeable, they are using DJI Avata drones.

Largely agree, but the noise is also really f**king irritating.

The wizzy noise off the drone - totally agree. Not sure why this is necessary. Take Video from the Drone and Audio from the track side microphones.

I dunno, with that noise you know the drone is shifting and therefore the skier is also going some - emphasises the speed for me

Weirdly this popped up on my tube feed - I had no idea Ailsa Craig held this secret….

dinny_g wrote: Mon Feb 09, 2026 2:40 pm The wizzy noise off the drone - totally agree. Not sure why this is necessary. Take Video from the Drone and Audio from the track side microphones.

It's weird right? Footage is amazing but the buzzing on the audio is irritating and I thought it would be an easy fix.

I'm also not tiring of Snoop Dogg's seemingly legit fascination with every event he watches, then has a go at etc. Not entirely sure how this became a thing, but I'm all for it.

Swervin_Mervin wrote: Mon Feb 09, 2026 2:20 pm Largely agree, but the noise is also really f**king irritating.

This. And the drone following the downhill slalom skiing on Sunday was a bit sick-making to watch. There was also one drone which nearly hit a competitor in the big air ladies' snowboarding. Plus they kept using the drone footage for the big air when it was utterly fucking useless for seeing the air they were getting. Overall, keep the drones for when they add something rather than using the new toy all the time please.

Strangely they seem to use the drone onboard mic even for many off the offboard shots so clearly they think it's a good sound to have.

The choice of drone drone in the sound mix is baffling.

They need a whole batch of these


I went to an interesting talk by the guys developing them a few years ago, I assume it's the same group.
https://www.wichita.edu/about/wsunews/n ... hers_3.php

RobYob wrote: Wed Feb 11, 2026 11:07 pm The choice of drone drone in the sound mix is baffling.

They need a whole batch of these


I went to an interesting talk by the guys developing them a few years ago, I assume it's the same group.
https://www.wichita.edu/about/wsunews/n ... hers_3.php

I'm not sure soft propellors will last long (or work at all) on an 80mph+ racing drone..

unzippy wrote: Thu Feb 12, 2026 10:36 am

RobYob wrote: Wed Feb 11, 2026 11:07 pm The choice of drone drone in the sound mix is baffling.

They need a whole batch of these


I went to an interesting talk by the guys developing them a few years ago, I assume it's the same group.
https://www.wichita.edu/about/wsunews/n ... hers_3.php

I'm not sure soft propellors will last long (or work at all) on an 80mph+ racing drone..

Soft surface is only one of the three design features for quieter props and if you print multi material why not have a soft surface on a stiff core?

RobYob wrote: Thu Feb 12, 2026 11:55 am

unzippy wrote: Thu Feb 12, 2026 10:36 am

RobYob wrote: Wed Feb 11, 2026 11:07 pm The choice of drone drone in the sound mix is baffling.

They need a whole batch of these


I went to an interesting talk by the guys developing them a few years ago, I assume it's the same group.
https://www.wichita.edu/about/wsunews/n ... hers_3.php

I'm not sure soft propellors will last long (or work at all) on an 80mph+ racing drone..

Soft surface is only one of the three design features for quieter props and if you print multi material why not have a soft surface on a stiff core?

Dunno tbh - just that owls are only quiet because of soft feathers and slow speed, I would imagine a fast owl with soft feathers would end up being a naked owl

mik wrote: Mon Feb 09, 2026 11:53 am I hope they are issuing medals for the drone operators too - some of the footage (luge, downhill skiing etc) is just superb

(I think they are fpv human operated rather than automated)

Luge/Skeleton/Bobsleigh is shaggyfpv, he's one of the best in the business - if you've seen an impressive drone shot in Red Bull video before it was likely him.



There might be Avatas used for some other things but these are custom tiny drones that can send HD video straight into the broadcaster systems. https://www.dutchdronegods.com/gear/fpv-broadcast-drone

Agree on the noise, I assume that's either inexperience or just the preference of the host broadcaster, MTB DH uses similar systems but they keep a lot of the drone noise out.

There also needs to be a way for the ground based cameras to automatically mask the drone out of their shots.

Yes drone shots are cool, but it’s annoying seeing it buzzing around behind the competitors.

Not exclusive to the Winter Olympics though, seeing the actual drone rather than just their shots annoys me on car vids too.

integrale_evo wrote: Thu Feb 12, 2026 6:13 pm There also needs to be a way for the ground based cameras to automatically mask the drone out of their shots.

Yes drone shots are cool, but it’s annoying seeing it buzzing around behind the competitors.

Not exclusive to the Winter Olympics though, seeing the actual drone rather than just their shots annoys me on car vids too.

I noticed the shadow on the floor during the downhill racing and wondered if the skier would too - could be a little distracting!

The Korean snowboarder who crashed and wasn't moving on her first qualifier run then went on to get gold was the most amazing turnaround. Bit bloody scary seeing the crash and not knowing if she was going to be OK.

Jobbo wrote: Fri Feb 13, 2026 1:00 pm The Korean snowboarder who crashed and wasn't moving on her first qualifier run then went on to get gold was the most amazing turnaround. Bit bloody scary seeing the crash and not knowing if she was going to be OK.

The all or nothing format for the half pipe was great. The men's event earlier was absolutely insane, one trick landed was a 1620, four and a half flips I guess?!